Now that Halloween is here, Taster's Choice gets to kick off the holiday season with a big indulgence - caramel sauce. The decadent topping is tailor-made for the fall and winter, jazzing up everything from apples to holiday pies and ice cream desserts.

But not all caramel is created equal. Store-bought varieties range from squeeze-bottle versions made with little more than corn syrup, to high-end jarred caramels made with real sugar, butter and cream.

With a dozen sauces to sample, our panelists deftly separated contender from pretender. And in the end, Taster's Choice had a Hall of Fame newcomer by near-unanimous vote.

Trader's Joe's Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce ($3.49 for 10 ounces at Trader Joe's) dusted the field with its "deep caramel flavor" and "buttery, rich" notes. This "lightly salted," "very dark" caramel earned two perfect scores and easily cleared the 80 points required for entry into the Hall. Four tasters would buy this brand, and a fifth might.

In second place was King's Cupboard ($8.99 for 11 ounces at Draeger's). "Mild" in flavor, this "not too sweet" sauce showed "pure" caramel notes and a "very smooth" and "chewy texture." Two would buy and three might.

Fran's ($7.99 for 11 ounces at Andronico's) finished third. While this "amber-colored" sauce was "a bit thin," most tasters liked the "good buttery, sugary flavors" and "salty" kick. One panelist, though, found the sauce "very sweet" and therefore "dull." This taster wouldn't buy, but three would and one might.

Fourth place went to Susan Elaine's ($7.99 for 10.5 ounces at Whole Foods), which was "too thick to spoon" despite being heated in a microwave shortly before the tasting. And yet, despite its "sticky, grainy and taffy-like texture," some panelists thought it tasted the best of the bunch. "Great buttery caramel flavor; like candy," said one. "Very natural," another added. Two would buy, two might and one would not.

Meanwhile, a well-known squeeze bottle cracked the top five. Credit Hershey's ($3.59 for 15 ounces at Cala Foods) for its "sweet, thick sauce" with "mild butterscotch flavor." It might taste a bit "fake," but it's got "good mass market appeal." Three of our tasters might buy, but two would not.

Caramel sauce

Trader Joe's 89

King's Cupboard 71

Fran's 66

Susan Elaine's 60

Hershey's (squeeze bottle) 56

Fudge Fatale 53

Robert Rothschild 46

Guittard (squeeze bottle) 32

Smucker's (squeeze bottle) 27

Smucker's (jarred) 22

Hershey's (jarred) 21

Ralph's 21

Panelists were Linda Anusasananan, food writer/consultant, San Mateo; John Carroll, cookbook author, San Francisco; Rosemary Mark, recipe developer, Walnut Creek, Roland Passot, chef-owner of La Folie in San Francisco and three Left Banks; Erick Wong, Chronicle page designer and video game columnist. All products are tasted blind; a perfect score would be 100. Prices listed are the lowest found, but products may be available at other stores.

Janny Hu is a Chronicle staff writer. E-mail her at jhu@sfchronicle.com. To look up past Taster's Choice columns, search online at sfgate.com/food/tasters/archive.